


Scars

by im_a_miserable_failure



Category: Eddsworld - All Media Types
Genre: Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Anxiety, Gen, Monster Apartments AU, Trans Male Character
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-04-14
Updated: 2016-04-14
Packaged: 2018-06-02 07:16:21
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,723
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6556948
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/im_a_miserable_failure/pseuds/im_a_miserable_failure
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>One-shot that takes place in the Monster Apartments AU (http://archiveofourown.org/series/431077) by Jujukind and supercasey (really great, you should totally check it out!) involving Edd and Matt discovering that Tom is transgender.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Scars

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [More than You Bargained for](https://archiveofourown.org/works/6358645) by [Jujukind](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jujukind/pseuds/Jujukind), [supercasey](https://archiveofourown.org/users/supercasey/pseuds/supercasey). 



> This is longer than anything I've ever written for school and took less than half the time too lmao what can I say I'm a slacker  
> ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯

It was around 11pm on a quiet Saturday night and Edd and Matt were snuggled up on the sofa watching some chick flick. Edd had somewhat protested to the notion, but Matt insisted that this one was different to most, with more depth and intrigue; it wasn’t.

The two boys were feeling quite relaxed and enjoying their quiet time together, when suddenly there was a loud thud and a rather slurred yelling from next door. Edd and Matt both jumped, shocked at the spontaneous eruption of noise. Edd paused the movie and the two stayed quiet to make sure everything was alright. They recognised that the yell had belonged to Tom, and if he was shouting at Tord then Tord was clearly not bothered enough to respond loud enough for the others to hear, as it sounded like Tom was arguing with himself. The commotion didn’t continue for more than half a minute before there was a slam of the neighbours’ front door and the knocking of Edd and Matt’s.

Matt scowled sideways at Edd, but Edd got up and let Tom in anyway. Tom promptly plopped himself onto one side of sofa and said nothing. Matt was clearly displeased at the disruption of his down time with his boyfriend but Tom was too drunk to notice, let alone care.

“So, Tom…” Edd started, “What brings you here?”

“Tord,” was the slurred yet firm reply.

“Oh?” Edd questioned.

Tom sighed dramatically and sat up, “He left his damned sock on the counter again. He’s always leaving his fucking clothes everywhere. He’s even more of a mess than I am.”

Edd and Matt snickered a bit at Tom’s reasoning for argument, but that last sentence kept them grounded.

“Oh, Tom,” Edd said with pity in his voice and a hand on his shorter friend’s shoulder, “You’re not a mess.”

Tom grumbled, “Pfft, whatever.”

Edd seemed disappointed in Tom’s casual self-deprecation, but was distracted by the spillage of booze on his friend’s shirt, “Uhh, Tom, do you want a change of clothes? Your shirt is a bit, erm…”

Tom glanced down and laughed a little too sharply and too quickly, “See, told you I was a mess.”

Edd shook his head and went to fetch his drunken friend a new top. When he returned to the living room, Matt was giving Tom a lecture on proper posture and Tom appeared to be dozing off. Edd handed the tired man a plain grey t-shirt and as soon as Tom clocked the situation he grabbed it from Edd’s hand, threw his own dirty shirt onto the floor, and pulled the new, freshly washed top over his head. Unfortunately, Tom appeared to be a bit stuck, getting mixed up on which hole was for which body part, “Um… Little help?”

Edd and Matt both got up and started over by removing the shirt completely. Once they had gotten it off, they simultaneously noticed the obvious scars on Tom’s chest. They gave each other a sideways look of surprise as the couple realised what they were; top surgery scars.

After they had finished dressing Tom, all three returned to the sofa and resumed watching the film.

“Should we…?” Matt whispered to Edd.

Edd pondered for a moment, “Let’s discuss it with him in the morning.”

~

The next day, Tom awoke to the scent of bacon and eggs sizzling from the kitchen. It was irresistible to Tom’s starving, empty stomach. He slowly tilted his head over to see a short brunette with a frying pan and a tall ginger hugging him from behind. Wait a second, this wasn’t Tom’s apartment.

Tom jumped up, panicked, and looked down at a t-shirt that didn’t belong to him, “When did I get here?” he asked, confused.

Edd and Matt whipped around, “Tom, you’re up!” Edd exclaimed, turning off the heat, “I made you breakfast, you must be pretty hungry after all that alcohol you drank last night.”

“Why am I here? What happened? Why am I wearing someone else’s shirt?” Tom asked, fast-paced and clearly rather shaken.

“It’s okay, Tom, calm down!” Edd assured his friend, sensing his worry, “You had a bit of a row with Tord and decided to crash at our place for the night. You had booze on your own shirt so I let you have one of mine.”

“Oh…” Tom said, beginning to calm down.

“Which reminds me,” Edd said, setting down a few plates and looking over at Matt, who was already seated with a cup of fresh blood and ready to eat, “We wanted to talk to you about something. Why don’t you come have breakfast with us and we can have a chat, yeah?”

Tom looked a bit concerned but ultimately agreed as he could not resist the temptation of food any longer, “Uh, sure,” he said, sitting down opposite Matt, as Edd served up their morning grub and sat himself down beside his partner.

“Thanks,” muttered Tom.

“It’s no problem!” Edd smiled as he chowed down. He piped up again after a good couple of minutes of peaceful silence, “So, err, Tom,” Edd began as Tom looked up from his plate, “Last night, after you came into our apartment, I’d noticed you had spilled some alcohol on your shirt. I went to get you a new one and you promptly threw it on, right then and there, and um, Matt and I noticed something…”

Tom was starting to grow more and more worried, but kept quiet and listened to Edd’s story.

Edd inhaled and continued, “We saw your… scars.”

Tom’s hand went limp as he dropped his fork onto his plate with a loud clink, but suddenly tensed up and hurriedly placed his hands on his lap.

“Don’t worry, Tom, really! It’s fine!” Edd quickly added, seeing how frightened his friend was, “We aren’t transphobic at all, I promise you! We just wanted to let you know that we are fully supportive of you and we love you no matter what!”

Matt nodded, smiling, “Indubitably.”

Tom relaxed a bit, but turned slightly pink at Edd’s understanding words and mumbled, “Jesus, you sound like my mum…”

Edd and Matt giggled at that, and they all finished up their breakfast whilst Edd went on about how Tom shouldn’t worry about anything and that they were all friends no matter what. Tom still stayed pretty quiet though throughout the meal. Once they’d all eaten up, he got up to put his dirty dishes in the sink and went to return to his own apartment with the excuse that Tord would be worried about him, but Edd promptly interjected and told him to stay and relax with them for a while longer. Tom grumpily complied.

“So, does Tord know? If you don’t mind me asking that is,” Edd asked once they’re all sat on the sofa.

“Yeah,” Tom said, easing up, “He’s known pretty much since we first met. I only got my surgery done a few years after we started dating.”

Edd decided to turn on the TV at a low volume so that Tom wouldn’t feel too awkward talking about all this.

“Hey, it’s cool that Tord is so accepting,” Matt said, “Not that I’d put it past him of course, it’s just that he is one unpredictable guy.”

Tom chuckled slightly, “Heh, yeah. I knew he’d be cool with it though. He knows what it’s like to be… misunderstood.”

Edd nodded, “So why didn’t you think that we’d understand?” he asked in the least accusatory way.

Tom sighed and directed his focus onto the television screen, “I dunno, I just…” he trailed off for a few seconds and wondered whether or not he should continue, “I’ve met some bad people. Sometimes, people will say that they’ll understand anything I throw at them, but…” Tom trailed off for good this time, shuddering slightly at the memory of people who had done him wrong.

Edd and Matt looked at each other sadly for a moment, unsure of how to console their friend. Then, Matt got up and stood next to Tom, ruffling his hair, and Edd leaned over and gave Tom a big, warm hug.

“Uh, guys, I-” Tom stuttered, “It’s fine, really.”

Edd shook his head, “No it isn’t. You deserve love and respect, and I want you to know that Matt and I will always be here for you.”

Tom didn’t know exactly what to say. He had been reminded of his worth many a time by Tord, but never this affectionately, and Tom didn’t respond too well to affection, so all he did was freeze up and blush.

Edd pulled away and looked directly at Tom, with a stern yet friendly look on his face, “Thomas Ridgewell, you are a wonderful, handsome, and brilliant person. Don’t let anyone tell you any different.”

Matt showed his agreement by sitting on the arm of the sofa and putting his arm around Tom. Tom felt his face burn in response to Edd’s praise and he knew he was bright red at this point, “Uh, y-yeah, I… Well…” Tom looked down and gripped onto his arms in awkwardness, then looked up at Edd with a slight smile, “Thanks.”

Edd smiled at his flustered friend, understandingly, and Matt returned to his seat, beaming kindly at Tom.

“Well, anyway…” Tom started to get up, “I should probably go.”

“Aw, alright then,” Edd stood up and went over to open the door for his pal, “See you later.”

“Sure,” Tom responded, leaving the room and then stopping briefly, “Um… Sorry for intruding last night.”

Edd laughed, “Ah, don’t worry about it. Anytime you need to get away from Tord or whatnot, our door’s always open.”

Tom chuckled and shook his head, “You really are too kind, Edd. You’ll get yourself in some trouble with that constant optimistic attitude.”

Edd blushed slightly and waved his hand dismissively, “It’s worth it if it makes people feel better. Thanks for opening up to us, Tom.”

Tom smiled shyly, “Thanks for listening… and not abandoning me.”

Edd shook his head, “Never.”

They hugged again briefly, and Tom returned to his apartment, where Tord was still sleeping peacefully on the sofa. Tom turned on the TV and snuggled in, knowing for certain, for the first time in his life, that he was well and truly loved.


End file.
